Indian battery swapping network for electric vehicles Battery Smart on Thursday said it has raised $33 million in a pre-Series B funding round from existing investors Tiger Global and Blume Ventures, as well as new investors, the Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF) and British International Investment (BII).
Co-founded by serial entrepreneurs and IIT-Kanpur graduates Pulkit Khurana and Siddharth Sikka, Battery Smart provides Li-ion batteries for both two- and three-wheelers across its 698 stations in 12 cities and claims that EV drivers can swap their batteries within two minutes.
By 2025, the company plans to add 1 lakh new customers and expand its geographic footprint in the $17 billion market.
“With 25,000 active customers across tier 1, 2, and 3 cities, we are keen to reinforce our ESG objectives while supporting India’s pursuit towards net-zero emissions,” Battery Smart cofounder and chief executive Pulkit Khurana said in a statement.
Battery Smart’s latest funding round comes a year after it closed a Series A funding round of $25 million led by Tiger Global. The startup had last raised $7 million in its pre-series A round led by Blume Ventures and Orios Ventures in November 2021.
This is Tiger Global’s third investment in an Indian startup in 2023. Its other two investments include payment firm PhonePe and IoT firm Infinite Uptime.
Battery Smart’s funding is the most recent example of rising investor interest in the EV market in India. The space in India has been buzzing with many startups such as Ather Energy, Altigreen, Ola Electric, BOLT, and Baaz Bikes raising funds from a host of investors including corporate VCs and automakers.
Given the rise in petrol and diesel prices in India and awareness about the environment, more consumers are opting for public transportation such as buses.
Earlier this week, two-wheeler EV maker Vegh bagged $5 million in a pre-series A round, while BluSmart in May raised $42 million in funding through a combination of equity and debt, led by the company’s founders and leadership team. Earlier this year, deep-tech battery startup Log9 raised $40 million in a mix of equity and debt in a Series B funding round led by Amara Raja Batteries and Petronas Ventures.
According to data from DealStreetAsia, India’s EV companies–vehicle makers and battery startups–raised about $902 million across 60 deals in 2022, versus a total of $564 million across 35 transactions in 2021.
Battery Smart’s revenue from operations skyrocketed 44 times to Rs 7.95 crore during the fiscal year ending March 2022 from Rs 18 lakh in FY21. The firm’s losses also surged 23-fold to Rs 13.08 crore during the period. The company is yet to file its FY23 numbers, according to Entrackr.
